Well, I did grab the little girl's hand that was inside my pocket in Rome. The girl happened to have bright clothes, dark hair, and lots of lipstick and gold jewelry, but it would be politically incorrect to mention her ethnic origins. Nevertheless, I twisted her little fingers as hard as I could and she was clearly in pain. Did I break them? I doubt it, but if I did I don't have the least bit of remorse. So there. Her hands did not belong in my pocket.

lol, over reaction? maybe she was simply looking for romance.

My brother, a long time Paris resident, was in Rome and observed someone being pickpocketed on the metro. He made the thief give back the wallet to the victim, and then he shoved him off the train! (Presumably, but not confirmed, after the train had stopped. LOL)

Back to the question. What would I do? I was picked in Rome earlier this year. If I had the chance, I think I would have smashed him. Of course, much of that depends upon the physical size of the thief. If I did deck him, I'd make it a quick punch and then high-tail. No, I wouldn't smash a kid, but I would punch or shove an adult, male or female. Now, before someone tells me of all of the risks; I ageee. I just telling you what I think I would do.

CubFan, good distinction. Sometimes what we think we would do and what we actually do are not the same. I have sometimes reacted to situations in ways that make it obvious I have forgotten my gender, age, size, and physical strength. Later I wonder what the hell I was thinking!

How I would react to robbery and how I would respond to attempted assault are two different things. The money I'd let go, personal safety I would fight for. It's really not such a funny "story" to tell you though. Been there done that.

I was with a tour group in Paris and we were being given instructions on how to use the Metro. Suddenly, there was a teenager right next to our guide and not part of our group. Our guide let out a 'hoot' and the teenager was just as suddenly pinned against the wall by 26 tourists. The teenager was shocked and insisted he did nothing but for some reason, our guide's wallet was in his hand. If he had looked insdie, he would have been more shocked because there were only a few small coins.

Hi Marilyn, I did something once that still makes me shake my head.

Years ago we lived in Vallejo while having our house in Benicia built.

We had our vehicle broken into twice and attempts at breaking into our house twice..all within a matter of weeks.

One night we went to bed and I almost fell asleep when I heard a strange noise at the front door. I looked out a window and saw a fellow on the porch, dressed in an overcoat and fedora style hat no less with some kind of a tool in his hand, obviously trying to breakin.

Guess I had had it! Without any thought at all I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a long boning knife, opened the front door (which had a screen door thankfully) and screamed "Get Away, Go, Now You SOB".

This guy almost jumped out of his clothes, LOL. He ran down the steps and down the sidewalk as fast as he could go. Now I was really mad!!

I unhooked the screen and started chasing him while wearing my flannel nightgown, waving the knife in the air and screaming at the top of my voice "you get back here, right now! Get back here".

This guy probably thought "was does she want? She told me to go and now she is telling me to come back, like in no way am I getting near this crazy woman". He got to the corner and turned onto a main street.

At that point I noticed lights had gone on in the neighboring houses, people had come out on the porches.
Neighbors started calling to me asking what was wrong, was I alright etc? One man said the PD was on their way.

Now I wanted to die of humilation!
The patrol car drove up..the cops got out (they knew me as a family member was on the force). One look at me in my flannel gown, barefoot, trying to sort of downplay the knife, hair standing on end no doubt and they doubled over laughing.

Finally someone asked where my husband was. We called out to him and his response was "I'm looking under the bed for my flashlight". Ah, my hero!! LOL.

Oh btw, we never had any vehicles or that house bothered again. Imagine the word got around a complete nut lived there, you think?

And yes, the PD did bawl me out for chasing the guy down the street. Fortunatly I scared him so bad he just wanted to get away evidently. Thank goodness he hadn't had a gun although he sure could have used whatever the tool was as a weapon. But than I had my handy boning knife :

Soooo, one really never knows how they will respond I guess.

LoveItaly, I know you were talking to Marilyn, and I apologize for butting in...but that's absolutely HILARIOUS!! I don't even know what you look like, but I'm visualizing flying hair, bulging eyes, and flaying arms!! All in a pink flowery flannel nightgown! Love it.

I was on the floor when you shared the part where your DH was looking for the flashlight under the bed...sounds like mine, although I'm such a chicken that at least 3 times a month, the poor guy has to go check all the locks, the alarm, and windows because I "heard I noise, I swear I did!!"

Thanks for the best laugh of the day.

Hi Gambader, actually I was writing this for everyone, I just addressed Marilyn because of her post and also because she knows me. She knows I am not some Amazon Woman, LOL.

BTW, the flannel nightgown was a red plaid!! Gambader my husband was always so protective of me that this particular incident still makes me laugh. It was so out of character for him. Guess he heard my screaming and woke up absolutely terrified? I don't know. He sure bawled me out the next day for my "stupidity", which I agree with. But have you ever gotten so mad you just don't think straight? And of course if that fellow had stopped and had started back to me..I probably would have passed out from fright I believe. Uhm, btw, my family member who was in the PD stopped by our office the next day and had a really stern talk with me, as he tried to keep a straight face. Bad me!!!

on subways, metros and other trains, the pros usually work in twos. One lifts the wallet passes it on to a buddy who will have a rolled up newspaper where the wallet is tucked that guy walks out at the other end of the car while the guy who stole your wallet stays calmly behind you to show his innocense in case you find your wallet is gone.
My favorite story is about my neighbor, at that time an elderly lady who walked her dog every day. One day a young man on his bike grapped her handbag knocked her down. Luckily she was not hurt. As I helped her up we both laughed. The youth had sped away and I imagine couldn't wait to see how much he scored. The bag was an old one she only carried to pick up and putin her dog's turds. Would have loved to see the the thief's face.

LI and Mimi, I don't know which is making me laugh harder -- the image of LI in a red plaid nightgown with a knife in her hand chasing some guy down the street in the middle of the night, or the thought of that thief opening the purse and finding such a treasure.

LI, that's EXACTLY what I meant about not knowing how you will react until it happens. Adrenaline is a powerful drug, on both the mind and the body.

I saw a program on TV, a thief in jail was interwied, he was looking at the passing crowd and told who he'd mug and why. By looking at people he was able to tell who would be a "troublmaker" for him.

My pre-teen son with 3 friends was stopped by a gang in San Francisco. When I asked how much they took from him, he said "they didn't ask me for money!". Huh? did they ask each one individually? YES!

I questioned him what exactly happened. He and his best friend were standing back-to-back, feasts clenched, looking those muggers in the eyes. The other 2 boys looking down, scared, away from my son and his friend.

I had a little talk explaining the "body language". Later that same son, working as a park ranger, apprehended an unruly drunk. I hope our talk helped